Two dead, hundreds rescued off Italy

TWO migrants have died at sea while trying to reach Italian shores from North Africa, while hundreds more were rescued and taken to the island of Lampedusa.

The victims were on a rubber dinghy with 88 other would-be migrants. They were spotted on Saturday struggling with rough seas by an Italian military patrol ship and were later picked up by the Italian coastguard. They died, presumably from hypothermia, before arriving in Lampedusa.

The coast guard said it had rescued 106 more people from another boat, bringing to around 500 the number of migrants taken to Lampedusa this week. Another 82 Somali migrants were rescued on Friday by Maltese authorities.

Lampedusa Mayor Giusi Nicolini said her island was struggling to cope with the latest arrivals. About a hundred migrants have been transferred to another detention centre in mainland Sicily, Italian authorities said.